An overhaul of the examination system that allows law graduates to become qualified lawyers is being considered by the head of the Law Society.
Students currently have to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) before they qualify as apprentice solicitors or barristers.
Last year, more than 600 graduates completed the PCLL, which is offered by law schools of the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University and City University.
There is another exam for lawyers who qualified abroad but want to practise in Hong Kong. That is the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination (OLQE) set by the Law Society.
'Many places have one uniform qualifying exam,' said the Law Society's new president, Dieter Yih Lai-tak, adding that having two different qualifying exams was 'confusing'.
'However, one thing is certain - [PCLL and OLQE] all aim to ensure that entrants to the legal profession are properly equipped with the necessary legal knowledge and skills to perform tasks with the highest standards expected of the legal service providers of an international financial centre,' Yih wrote in the society's official journal Hong Kong Lawyer.
'Members and stakeholders have recently been raising a question with me: whether a common qualifying examination for solicitors is worth considering.'
